Waiting

We feel like we’re in a holding pattern. All we can do is wait.

But waiting is a good thing. Expectation builds as we wait, and our prayers only grow. Waiting causes us to look to God like few other things do.

After filling out the mounds of paperwork months ago, we waited to receive a referral. After we received a referral, we waited to get a court date. Now we are waiting on our court date. Next week, we will wait to hear a decision about when we might be able to travel.

Our court date is set for February 22. During our American night on this upcoming Sunday evening, an Ethiopian court will convene during their African day. A judge will decide whether or not Benjamin legally becomes ours. If we “pass court,” we’ll plan on going to get him several weeks later. If we don’t “pass court,” we’ll probably have to wait for another court date in a month.

We sure do hope to pass court!

We hope to soon be waiting to travel to Ethiopia. We hope to soon be sitting on the plane—waiting for it to take off. We hope to soon be waiting in Addis Ababa to get our arms around Benjamin. We hope to soon be coming home and getting our entire family together under one roof.

All of life is a lesson in waiting, and this adoption process has further impressed this fact on us. We’re trying to wait well. We’re also trying to teach our boys to wait well and to pray for their little brother.

Isaac is too young to understand what is happening. Although, if you ask him his little brother’s name, he always replies, “Benj Benj!” We love it.

Jack is our sponge who has been learning so much—especially about the different countries of the world. Before going to bed recently, he told us that he was going to soon make a sock puppet of an Ethiopian boy. It’s his way of waiting.

Several months ago, before William understood that we were going to Ethiopia to get our son, he saw a pregnant woman at church. He looked at her and then turned around and said, “Mommy, is our little brother growing inside her tummy?” Always eager and inquisitive, William is also ready for his little brother to come.

God’s timing is perfect. He is in control. We are on His timetable. We look forward to Benjamin coming home, but in the meantime we’ll all wait—and we’ll trust Him in the process.